Individuals looking to invest in the cannabis industry have multiple options to consider.

The two most popular routes are investing in producers, processors and retailers directly involved with the plant, or investing in ancillary businesses that provide services to the operators, including software companies, consulting firms and security providers.

Risk tolerance guides the investor’s path. For the risk averse, ancillary businesses can provide a safer investment free of potential hurdles put up by the federal government.

But for the risk seekers, obtaining licenses that allow cannabis production could be the most lucrative approach.

It's Saturday morning at an "entrepreneurship retreat" at a hotel in Aurora, Colorado, just outside Denver - well, that's what the sign in the lobby reads anyway.

The word "marijuana" is conspicuously absent from the marquee.

Social media is abuzz over 4/20, the unofficial holiday celebrating all things marijuana, including its consumption. As pot fans across the country commemorate National Weed Day, restaurants in states such as California and Colorado and even in the nation’s capital are promoting 4/20 specials and deals in hopes of luring hungry smokers with cheaper eats. Some dispensaries in those states and others with legal weed are offering discounts or even freebies to certain customers.

Understand that Las Vegas is not the town it claims to be.

If you’re an adult in Las Vegas, you can do almost anything. On the strip, you can smoke, drink, and gamble. Drive an hour in one direction, and you can fire heavy weapons, legally. Drive an hour in another direction, and you can pay for sex, legally. But if what helps you relax is a prescribed dose of medicinal marijuana, you’re out of luck.

Marijuana policy has emerged as a key issue in American politics, particularly over the past few years. The issue is being debated at local, state, and federal levels, and has captured the attention of media organizations and research institutions nationwide and around the world.

Navigating the policy terrain and understanding what is happening in this fast-paced, dynamic, and changing arena is often tough. Knowing who is influential can be even more difficult. Because of the expansive nature of the policy conversation there are hundreds of key players making a difference—on both sides of this issue—and that list is seemingly ever growing.

Each year, marijuana aficionados celebrate April 20 (4/20) as the unofficial holiday of weed. In the United States, marijuana is a mainstream social issue as advocates of legalizing weed argue it is safer than alcohol while opponents make the case that marijuana is a gateway drug that does the body harm. How safe is marijuana? The jury is still out. While there is research suggesting weed is bad for you, there are also studies which point to health benefit.

Below are 20 health benefits of consuming marijuana:

Marijuana connoisseurs may soon have a new option for finding the best weed: brain scans.

In the past, the marijuana selection process went something like this: buy whatever your dealer offers. If you're lucky, you can choose between strains with vaguely evocative names like Blue Dream and Romulan. Then, with the advent of medical marijuana dispensaries, selection became more refined. All of a sudden, that Blue Dream comes with information on its percentage of THC (the ingredient that gets you high) and CBD (the pain relief ingredient).

After cannabis activist Jakub Gejawski was indicted his patients went on camera defending their supplier of medical cannabis oil (Polish language, English subtitles)

Legalization of Marijuana would save the United States an estimated $20 billion per year.

Even if you don’t use Marijuana, you should be supporting getting it decriminalized.

Tax Marijuana, Hit Cartels Where it Hurts

About 1 in 4 people have claimed to have used Marijuana at least once in their life (the rest are probably lying) and according to the Federal Government about 15 million Americans are currently using Marijuana at least once per month. Marijuana is the most popular illegal drug in the world and has shown no signs of slowing down.

Between 2012 and 2050 the United States will experience a considerable increase in its older population, with aging baby boomers largely contributing to that growth. American’s graying population has wide-ranging implications for the legal cannabis industry, which grew from $1.5 billion in 2013 to $2.7 billion in 2014.